- Flydubai Captain Smit Machchhar has been awarded the UAE’s First Class Order of Zayed II for bravery after thwarting an alleged attack by his co-pilot during a flight to Tel Aviv.
- Flydubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv plunged 16,000ft in 30 seconds during what authorities allege to be a September 11-inspired attack targeting Ben Gurion Airport.
- Despite suffering head and arm injuries, Captain Machchhar managed to unlock the cockpit door and alert colleagues while fending off the assailant.
- Others managed to incapacitate the alleged attacker, and two other pilots who were on board were able to safely land the plane in Saudi Arabia.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the co-pilot, an Omani national, had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination.
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